1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a radome for a transmitter/receiver unit.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Protective coverings for transmitter/receiver units, in the form of, e.g., antennas, are referred to as a radome. A radome is preferably embodied as a closed protective covering and is used to protect an antenna from external influences or environmental influences, such as wind or rain, for example. In general, these environmental influences can be referred to as mechanical and/or chemical influences.
A radome essentially handles two tasks: mechanical stability for shielding against mechanical influences and electromagnetic transparency, i.e., permeability to electromagnetic waves, so that an antenna can fulfill its purpose as a transmitter/receiver unit without a received or sent electromagnetic signal experiencing an undesired attenuation or any other disturbance, for example.
The requirements for mechanical stability and electromagnetic transparency can lead to diametrically opposed design results, i.e., the electromagnetic transparency can be negatively affected as mechanical stability increases and vice versa.
In the prior art, it can be necessary that the design of a radome must be modified depending on the antenna frequencies used, or that the working frequencies of the antenna must be taken into account when designing the radome. Depending on the layer thickness of the radome wall or of individual layers of the wall, it can occur that the radome is not transparent to particular frequencies and that a different radome must be used for corresponding working frequencies.